Officer shoots, kills son as son fatally stabs own mother

An off-duty Montgomery County police officer shot and killed his son as the son fatally stabbed his own mother inside their Gaithersburg home, police said.

It happened around 8 p.m. Wednesday in the family’s home in the 7400 block of Lake Katrine Terrace.

Authorities said the 25-year-old son got into an argument with his mother, pulled out a knife and stabbed her. As the son attacked his 53-year-old mother on a second floor bedroom, the veteran office shot and killed his son with a handgun, police said. He then called 911.

The mother was taken to a hospital where she died. Police Sgt. James Stirkens did not suffer any injuries.

Stirkens, 57, a patrol officer in the Silver Spring district, has been placed on routine administrative leave.

The wife was Denise Stirkens, 53, and the son was identified as Christoopher Stirkens.